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November 30, 2011

The teachers were ready! The students were ready! And the crowd roared! It was our annual Staff vs. Students Volleyball showdown on November 23, 2011. Both sides put on a good show with great rallies, keen serves and deadly digs. Each side won some and lost some. We are proud of our teachers and hope their aches and pains have gone away by now. But we are especially proud of our awesome Cobra Volleyball team and coaches who played through their season with pride, sportsmanship and spirit!

Our motto at King has and continues to be "It's All About S.A.M!" S.A.M is "Student Achievement Matters." And this was greatly evident on October 27, 2011 when Mrs. Sheena Alaiasa and members of the King ohana received a "Continuous Growth Award" at the Dept. of Education's Hawaii Distinguished Schools awards event held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Tapa Tower Ballroom.

The Hawaii Distinguished Schools Program honors elementary and secondary schools that make significant progress in closing the achievement gap, or whose students achieve at the highest levels. Frito-Lay of Hawaii established the Hawaii's Outstanding Public Schools Program in 1985, which evolved into the Hawaii Blue Ribbon Schools Program in 1988. It was renamed the Hawaii Distinguished Schools Program in 2003. The Hawaii Distinguished Schools Program is evaluated by a panel of judges on criteria based on academic accountability targets and acceptable growth in reading and mathematics as required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). (from Hawaii Public School website)

King is proud of our teachers and students who put forth 100%+ effort to reach the No Child Left Behind goals. Teachers are continually working on aligning their curriculum to state standards, developing meaningful assessments, and engaging students in their learning. High standards of rigor and relevance in all our classes are the daily expectation. We are confident that we will continue our upward trend and will continue to meet the annual yearly progress of NCLB because "It's All About S.A.M!"

November 18, 2011

King's long awaited bus port will be open very soon. It has been years in the planning and funding. Now our students have a safer and weather-protected school bus area for drop-off and pick-up. Students will soon be informed of these new procedures:

1. The bus port area is restricted to only students who ride the school bus. It is not a place to hangout with friends, loiter or play. Students who are walking on the way out of campus should stay off the road and walk within the fenced area.
2. The bus will pick-up students in the same bus route order as the current site. First round is the same 5 buses in the same order, followed by the next 3 buses.
3. Students enter from the sidewalk that leads up to the holding area and wait on the raised cement platform. Do not wait near the entrances or on the bus roadway.
4. Students must line-up in a single line, extending towards the back wall of the bus port.
5. No personal vehicles (parents/guardians) for student drop-off or pick-up is allowed in the bus port area.
6. No loitering in the bus port area before or after school.
7. Please use caution when crossing the roads. Use the crosswalks.

November 17, 2011

Our yearly campus inspection was held on 11/14/11 by a team of school staff, district personnel, parents and a legislator. They walked through our campus and inspected the school grounds, buildings (interior/exterior), and furnishings to identify any possible sanitation, safety or maintenance concerns. Mr. Robert Lockyer, Vice Principal, proudly reports that our campus was rated a "3 - very good" in each category, for a perfect total score of 18 points. That is the highest rating a school can obtain. There are some areas that do need attention (missing ceiling tiles, peeling paint, dripping faucet), and requests have been put in for their repair. However, overall, King campus was found to be "very good" shape. The hard work of our custodial staff to keep our school safe and beautiful is applauded. And our students and staff who continue to have great pride and concern for "our home" makes King a very special campus.

Our Bottle Cap Recycling Team Competition ended with a whopping 122 pounds of plastic bottle caps! Students, teachers and staff got into the spirit of "taking care of our environment" by making the easy effort to save their bottle caps. We even had students picking up bottle caps as they walked to and from school. Students were informed via morning commercials about the hazards these caps pose to our environment and wildlife. Dead birds as far away as Midway Island have been found to have stomachs full of these harmful plastic caps.

November 16, 2011

S.W. King Intermediate School has recently made some positive changes regarding our Attendance Procedures.Parent notes excusing their children for illness, three days or less will now be accepted as “excused.”Previously S.W. King Intermediate had required a Doctor’s note in order for a student to receive an “excused” absence, even for one absence.Any absence beyond three days of illness, S.W. King Intermediate requires that parents obtain a doctor’s note.

S.W. King has a positive attendance record of over 94% student present in school.These attendance figures demonstrate that our students support and enjoy the programs provided at King. A positive parent/school partnership requires that parents inform the school by 9 a.m. of the day of child’s absence (233-5727).The safety of our students requires that we know that they are at home and cared for properly.

100% on-time attendance is our high goal for on-time attendance. Being late to school disturbs the learning environment.We also understand that sometimes, traffic patterns, personal issues occasionally interfere with on time attendance.Students will be allowed “amnesty” for the first two unexcused tardies.When a student is unexcused tardy to school three times or beyond, there will be a “learning opportunity” via lunch-time detention.This detention involves sitting in a designated area during lunch and then helping to clean the common areas of the cafeteria.Chronic “late to school” behavior will require a parent conference(s). Please help your child manage his time in the morning by allowing adequate time to wake up, get ready, and travel to school. Being prepared the night before with books, supplies, and clothes is also a great help to the morning routine.

Attendance matters!On-time behavior is an important ingredient for success in school, at work and in the home. Let’s start developing this good habit in our children. Please continue your positive partnership with S.W. King Intermediate by your close personal attention to these attendance issues. If you have any questions/concerns regarding your child's attendance, please call James Frisbie, Attendance Counselor, 233-5727, ext. 233.

November 15, 2011

Take the test! Parents, you can try out some sample HSA questions in the HSA Online Parent Information Booklet.
Your child received their HSA booklets in advisory class on 11/15/11. Accompanying the booklet was a letter advising you of the upcoming testing dates. Students may have up to 3 opportunities to take this statewide test. Your child's highest score will be kept as their measure of proficiency in reading and math.

King proudly made AYP (adequate yearly progress) in the 2010-11 school year. Our teachers and students are working diligently and rigorously to make it happen again this year.
We are confident that WE CAN!

Please make every effort to avoid family travel, appointments or any type of absences during these testing periods. Make-up testing is available, however it does require having your child come out of one of their classes (core and/or elective).

November 11, 2011

Students and staff arrived on campus to a solemn site on 11/9/11. Vandals had defaced our beautiful campus with ugly graffiti. Walls, stairwells, windows and murals were spray painted with various tags and pictures. Police were called and they gathered evidence that will hopefully result in the apprehension of these criminals. Many students expressed shock and dismay at the thoughtlessness of these individuals and truly felt the impact of "their school" being violated. Maintenance crews quickly cleaned up the mess and restored our campus to it's beauty. There will be heightened security and surveillance by both the police and school personnel. We will not let these individuals dampen our Cobra spirit and pride!

November 10, 2011

The 2011 King Cross Country team wrapped up a solid and successful season with their team wins at the 13th Annual King Cross Country Meet on Oct. 21, 2011. The girls team took 1st place and the boys team took 2nd place. Throughout the season these dedicated runners practiced daily by putting in long miles and hours. Their hard work paid off with multiple great finishes by individual members in the season's races. Along with coaches, Mr. Brian Viola and Mr. Ross Takahashi, the Cross Country team members were recognized and appreciated by their teachers and classmates at our 11/2/11 school assembly. Congratulations to our running Cobras! Cobra Pride Lives!

We are pleased to present our September "Cobras of the Month." They were selected by their team teachers as students who "live the 5Rs" everyday. Our outstanding Cobras were recently recognized and honored at our November 2, 2011 grade level assembly. Congratulations! Cobra Pride lives!

November 9, 2011

We are pleased to present our October "Cobras of the Month." They were selected by their team teachers as students who "live the 5Rs" everyday. Our outstanding Cobras were recently recognized and honored at our November 2, 2011 grade level assembly. Congratulations! Cobra Pride lives!